To date, the classic deployment profile of submarines was the locating and fighting of high-value opposing over-water and underwater targets, in other words enemy ships and submarines. The submarine weapons for this deployment profile are primarily torpedoes that are, without exception, suitable only for fighting sea targets. For fighting on-land targets, submarines currently only have missile systems in which a missile launches hydraulically or pneumatically out of a corresponding container, is then brought to the water surface with boosters, and is started there.
All these known submarine weapons systems are not suited to protect the submarine from direct threats. One of the essential self-defense mechanisms of a submarine in the past was thus its ability to dive deep quickly if necessary and relocate to thereby be able to escape an attack by an adversary. This self-defense strategy, however, does not work for operations in shallow waters. In such deployment scenarios, submarines must have weapons with which they are able to defend themselves particularly against attacks from above, for example from submarine hunting helicopters or submarine-hunting airplanes. This is difficult particularly when an attacking helicopter or an attacking airplane is located in a zenith above the submarine, since this region cannot be cleared with conventional periscopes of the submarines, since their viewing direction is oriented parallel to the water surface, so that generally these threats are detected late.
In the past, there have been submarines constructed with platforms on their top deck to mount machine guns or anti-aircraft guns; however, such weapons could only be used if the submarine had surfaced, and after the surfacing of the submarine, a certain amount of preparation time was required to bring the corresponding weapon into position. In addition, such weapons are not suited for defending against targets in the proximity of the zenith due essentially to the shooting range that is restricted in an upward direction.
Particularly when submarines operate in shallow waters, for example in concealed reconnaissance operations in coastal regions, the submarines must be equipped with self-defense weapons systems that allow the crew to execute rapid defensive measures against above-water attacks, particularly also in the zenith region of the submarine, without having to surface.
In addition, it is also desirable for concealed operations, such as fighting piracy, smuggling, terrorism, or other asymmetrical threats for example, if submarines have deployment means that allow the use of situation-appropriate weapons without these small targets having to be attacked with torpedoes or missiles launched by the submarine, which generally does not seem appropriate and is not reasonable due to cost reasons.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,249,567 B1 discloses an underwater vehicle in which, in the tower of the underwater vehicle, a telescopable lock system is provided through which smaller missiles or reconnaissance drones can be deployed out of the pressurized body of a submarine submerged at periscope depth against close-range threats. This known weapons system can be used reasonably but only preventively against an enemy attack. For a defensive measure for already attacking enemy objects, this known weapons system is not suited due to the preparation times and the slow reaction time.
Directed energy weapons are already currently known, which can fight enemy targets with the energy from laser beams. However, these optical beam operating systems have only been tested for use on land or in aircraft.